High school to host 29th annual choir festival

February 23, 2012

MARTINSBURG - Area choirs equipped with glittery costumes and powerful voices prepare to entice crowds at the 29th annual Martinsburg High School Concert and Show Choir festival.

Over two days, middle and high school concert and show choirs will compete and entertain during the festival, what Martinsburg High School choral director Linda Snyder said is always a full house.

"A lot of community members come," Snyder said. "They see groups of teenagers from all over this whole area that share this love of show choir and love of choir period. The electricity is amazing."

Nine concert choirs will perform on Friday evening beginning at 6 p.m. On Saturday, seven middle school and 17 high school choirs will perform all day, beginning at 8:10 a.m.

"There's going to be a lot of different types of shows. There's going to be shows like ours that are really high paced. There will be shows that start off slow and pick up, and there (are) just going to be all kinds of shows," said Martinsburg High School Good Times show choir co-captain Marqus Burrell.

Since Good Times is hosting the competition, the show choir is ineligible for ranking. Event awards include one grand champion winner for concert choirs, one outstanding winner to be awarded to the middle school show choir and middle school concert choir. High school show choirs are divided into two categories - groups with fewer than 1,000 members and groups of more than 1,000 members. One winner will be chosen from each division, and then the choir with the most points will be named the grand champion. Additional awards include best choreography, best soloist and outstanding entertainer.

The concert doubles as a fundraiser for the Martinsburg High School show choir through the sales of tickets and concessions, helping to pay for a choreographer, buses and hotels during travel for events.